Thursday, 14 July 2011

I do apologize for going about this in this manner, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I'm wondering if anyone out there has a copy (or knows where I can get a copy) of the site management plan for Pompeii (specifically the one they put together for UNESCO)? I'm hoping to get a chance to look at it for my research but I have had no luck getting any firm answers as to it's location from the SANP.

If anyone has a copy laying around (or knows where I can get access to it), please get in touch! You would be a lifesaver!

1 comment:

The short answer is, I'm afraid, that you can't get one!You're not the first person who is desperately hoping to get their hands on a copy of the management plan and it's just not happening for anyone.When I translated for the UNESCO inspection I was able to understand a bit better what the situation is: there are in actual fact two documents that are described as the management plan (although we tend to call the second document the 'supplement' to avoid confusion). The original management plan was commissioned by SANP and created by a quango called TESS (www.tesscostadelvesuvio.it). Although this plan was eventually accepted by SANP i.e. the CdA (Board) officially accepted it, it doesn't actually correspond very closely to what in Anglo-Saxon terms would be considered a management plan. The content is much more general and wide-ranging and doesn't go into detail about actual site practices. This led to the second document - or supplement - being commissioned by the Commissario Speciale, Marcello Fiori from TESS. I know more about this second document because we were invited to contribute (here I speak as a member of the Herculaneum Conservation Project, we wrote the Herculaneum section in partnership with the Site Director). While this document is much more concrete, as requested, it still doesn't entirely correspond to the content of a management plan.Moreover, the supplement has not yet (to my knowledge) been accepted by the SANP's CdA - and there are concerns that it may never be, given that it was created in the context of the Commissariamento which is currently under investigation.It may be of use to know that the management plan in any case only exists with the Soprintendente herself and the Ministry of Culture have a copy - but it has not been issued at the level of the site directors. When UNESCO inspectors asked for a copy, they were shown the hard copy but not provided with a digital version to take back with them - I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions from that!With regard to your research, I suggest that you refer to the fact that while SANP is currently trying fulfil the UNESCO requirement for drawing up a management plan it is not actually a document that is currently affecting management practice at any of the sites. My colleague Jane Thompson, HCP Project Manager, in any case points out that the management plan was not originally a requirement when WHS had an existing management system (such as the superintendencies).Hope that helps!